Sprites and Magic: What Happened After
by Mr. Unimportant
Summary: Sequel to AWLoCEA, though loose enough that reading the 156,506 word prequel's not needed.Set a...very long time after the events of my only other piece of work, a new hero rises to stave the coming tides of darkness!...Or to farm and try to turn a dollar
1. So, how did he get there this time?

(Guess who? Yeah, it's been, uh… quite a while, but I'm glad to say that through much intensive RPing and Grade 12 English I'm actually writing some smart-looking stuff now. o-o Mind you, having lost my HM game, having my DS swiped from me – containing Trauma Center and Fire Emblem, no less. Lyn, my poor unstoppable killing machine… TT – coupled with, well, work and everything else that capitalism uses to stifle creativity, I'll be infrequent with updates. Like, really infrequent. So infrequent you'll actually be impressed by it. Still, enjoy!

Now, before I forget, I'd like to dedicate this first chapter to my very good friend and other such stuff, Corinne. Merry belated Christmas and happy extremely belated birthday. That's kind of what this chapter was supposed to be for. ; Now enjoy your read, everyone, and I hope you all had lots of presents and got Nintendo Wiis and Twilight Princess and want to bite Midna.

…Hey, it is a holiday today. Merry Boxing Day, everyone! Make sure you return everything you got two of and buy the stuff you didn't get or didn't want your relatives to know about!)

Spring was arriving. The city was beginning to wake, snow melting into puddles and streams of water running merrily down the gutters and bubbling on to the grates leading into the sewer. Pigeons were beginning to show their presence, current or recent, upon the statues and architecture. People were beginning to walk instead of bundle up in their warm houses or pitter about the city in their automobiles. A rather normal winter had finally passed through, making way for what was destined to be… a rather normal spring.

The City Regional Minimum Security Institution for Minor Criminal Negligence. This large, wide, forboding structure loomed upon the small, flat hill which it was resided. Three meters of artificial turf and a chest-high chain-link fence separated the scum behind its vigilant walls from the rest of civilized society. Those who entered seldom escaped without a small feeling of guilt for their poor judgement in whatever situation led them to this hall of justice. It stood, creaking occasionally from the change of temperature Spring brought, but otherwise unsurpassable in its silent might.

A taxi cab rolled its way to the curb, wheels turning on occasion and moving back and forth until it was perfectly lined since its parralel park was a bit sloppy. The sound of change dropping was heard, and then it was nothing but the rumbles of the engine until the clunk and bunk of the right passenger-side door opening with neither too much or too little effort needed.

Out then stepped a man of hunched posture and tanned epidermals. He straightened himself to his average hunch, adjusting his white muscle shirt with the hand reasonably attached to his tattoed arm. He took a moment to rub his dark eyebrows, adjusting to the change of light, and heard the taxi behind him pulling away. His solemn face turned to the left and right, and finally to the center, where the Institution lay before him.

Without hesitance, he walked toward the fence, unlatching the gate with a flick of his finger and continuing on until he reached the front entrance. He pulled at the main door, finding it immovable. Puzzled, he glanced around, until noticing the 'push' sign inscribed in sticker paper on the door's glass face. Funny he didn't notice that… He pushed the door open, not giving it another thought.

The staff on-duty, a fourteen year-old girl who seemed to have forgotten her nametag that day, was chewing pink bubblegum while reading over a copy of _Bishies' Quarterly_ and leaning against the wall behind her counter. She raised her head to the sound of the door jingly-bells being chimed. Greeting the man, she offered a candy from the dish, which was respectfully refused. The man then mentioned who it was he was here to meet, to which the girl hummed a moment and then decided to use the quick-search on the counter's computer. The name was found, and directions given.

Trudging down the long hallways, filled with mostly-empty cells other than the occasional bored delinquent or snoozing janitorial staff, he navigated the maze of dreariness until he came upon the one cell he was looking for. B-11.

Bingo.

He approached the cell, his frame becoming clearer as the rather poor lighting fixtures bathed him in what they could provide. Soon enough he was nearly against the bars, staring hard at the shaded figure laying out on the bed at the far end of the cell. It stirred at his presence, but didn't bother to get up.

"Come here," the man requested, voice gruff from wear of age. "Let me see your face."

The figure let out a sigh, shifting where it was until it was at a sit. It then got to its feet, walking toward the front and slowly exposing itself to the light, revealling brownish eyes, a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a red scarf, overalls, and of course, a blue hat.

They stared at one another a moment, surveying in silence.

"Tak," the figure, a young man by the looks of it, greeted with a hint of mockery. "You haven't changed much."

"I can say the same, kiddo," the man replied, surveying the other for a moment. "You've still got no direction for yourself. No great goal. No thoughts for the future. Barely any thoughts for the present. You've got to get back on your feet."

"I've never been on my feet," the other replied with a smug grin and tilt of the head. He began speaking in a poetic drawl. "I'm a drifter, I drift the cityscape. Like a pigeon on the wind, I travel as I please, shifting course when I decide to… Rgh, but this cage!" He shook the bars in violent defiance. "Do you know what it's like to be in here?! The days are cruel and dark, filled with misery! The world takes for granted its freedom, its open space… This is evil in its purest…!"

"…What are you in for again?" Tak asked, cutting into the dramatic pause in hopes it would keep this from turning into a full-on soliloquy.

The caged wonder paused for a moment, blinking once before replying. "…Hit a traffic cone and couldn't pay the fine."

"Ah… What's the term for that?"

"Four days… max… Two on good behaivor," muttered the reply, tapping his fingers together absently.

"Well, kiddo, I'm willing to pay your bail," said Tak, a suspicious glint in his eyebrow. The jailbird gripped his prison bars again, looking at him in wonderment.

"Really?"

"Yep, but it's not just 'cause I'm a nice guy," he continued. "I came here for a reason…

"I'm taking you back."

He gasped, loosening his desperate grip on the bars. "But… But Tak, the prophesy…"

"There's nothing to say that it won't happen here, either," replied Tak. "You might as well be somewhere safer than this city… That and, well, it's been a dry last generation and the town's short of young men again. You should see what we're calling 'bachelors' now…"

There was a pause. "…Gri-?"

"Yes…" muttered Tak, before the word had even finished. The improsoned one laughed.

"Wow, maybe you'll stand a chance soon!" he goaded. "Takakura, single, six foot two if it weren't for the hunch. Tanned, tattooed, lean, hairless other than the eyebr- Hey hey, wait, come back!"

Takakura, as he now was fully identified as (like it was some big secret or something. One can take a guess at who the so-far nameless prisoner is, too), turned around slowly with a sigh. He remembered why he hadn't missed the kid a whole lot…

"…Back to the point," he said gruffly. "You've got to decide this, and now."

"Wait," he replied, holding a hand out for a second. "…You just want me there to help repopulate town?"

"Kinda."

"Well, that all sounds good, but what's the catch?" he questioned, eyeing the older man suspiciously.

Takakura sighed, glancing away bitterly. There was no point in hiding it from him now. "Jack… Your father has died."

Jack, as his name surprisingly was, paled for a moment. His eyes glazed over, his throat felt dry… He swallowed, trying to calm the lump in the throat under his quivering chin…

Blink. "…Oh, right, I got that letter. Five years ago."

"…Oh." Postage just _had_ to prevail that one time. "Well… case is, we need the farm up and running again. And seeing as farming has been in your blood for generations, it was a little more than pure destiny that brought me here to you."

Jack narrowed his eyes, sticking his head slightly through the painted steel bars. "…You want me to leave my home? My city? My posessions? Friends? This very place I've grown up in? All in a simple town in a simple place with pretty much no future for m-"

"Girls."

"…Hard bargain," Jack admitted, rubbing his chin in thought. "But I'm still not sure about it… I mean, farming is just, well, unclean… You know, I'd rather be serving soft drinks than, say… shoveling cow dung."

With a gleam in his eye, Jack stared at Takakura, a small smile present. Takakura stared back, a single drop of sweat trailing down his right temple. There seemed to be no way around it… He gave a sigh of defeat.

"…I'll shovel."

Jack grinned. "Then you've got a deal!"

-

The bail having been paid – a tough but fair 800g – and a taxi called for their trip to Jack's home, the two waited on the stret outside of the institution. Five minutes of complete silence passed before the taxi finally rolled up in front of them. As Jack began toward it, he felt his shoulder caught by Takakura's hand.

"Jack…" the man began. Jack turned around. "Jack… There is no turning back from this point, you know. Once you've gone to Forget-Me-Not Valley you'll remain there for the rest of your young, adult, middle age and most likely old-age life. There are no video games or laptops or wireless… things or shoe stores; we only have the basics."

For a moment, Jack paused. Then the reminder of no-competition bachelorhood kicked in again and he made compensation.

"Well then, I'll bring a few creature comforts with me," he stated, smiling a bit. "It's all right, I have everything I want right in my…"

-

"…apartment…" he muttered tonelessly, his eyes raised to one of the windows of his living complex. The one that he knew housed his room. The one currently spitting out a constant torrent of flames, between six and ten feet out. It was the only room on fire, too. He supposed the fire crew bustling around him was doing a very competent job of containing the blaze.

Once again, in his room.

"…Well, now I've got to go, huh…" Jack muttered. "I don't have the money to pay back all my stuff, even if it weren't fake insurance…"

"Hm?"

"Nevermind, Tak…" Jack sighed, turning away and looking around. He noticed a firefighter passing by, and took the man's hat from his head.

"Hey!" called he. Jack evaded his grip and cleared his throat.

"You know what happened?" he asked, offering the hat again. The man took it back, narrowing his eyes. "…Don't look at me like that, I'm sure you can beat me up if you wanted. But it's kind of my apartment burning up there."

"Oh," said the firefighter, blinking and lowering his fist. "We're not sure of the cause yet, sir. Witnesses can't seem to confirm anything but the sound of a bang and the woosh of flames. Some suspect karma."

"Karma…" Jack muttered angrily. "So, what, no cause?"

"Well, one witness claimed to see…" Suddenly, the fire hose he was supposed to be helping to carry caught around his leg. He tripped, falling flat on his head, unconscious.

Takakura blinked.

"…Should we wait to see what he said?" he asked, glancing over to Jack inquisitively.

"Nah… it doesn't matter," replied Jack, shaking his head a bit. "I doubt he'll remember anyway. That looked like a memory-clearer…"

"Well, let's get out of the middle of this off-limits area, then," Tak continued, turning and walking over to the police tape barrier. "I think we're getting in the way…"

"Sure, sure…" said Jack, starting toward it as well, passing under and walking to the taxi, parked beside a fire truck. "So next stop, the Valley?"

"Yep. …Say, don't you have a car?"

"…The traffic cones were there for a reason." 

"Oh."


	2. The Arrival! And Filler!

(I mentioned a very busy schecule, right? Heheh… Well, exams are all over now and I'm back from my trip to Cali, so you can expect more frequent updates as we go along. Unfortunately, this is one of those get-things-out-of-the-way chapters that we all love to make, but the meat of the plot is fast approaching, worry not!)

And so, after an hour's cab ride to the outside of the city, followed by several days' ride by horse-and-buggy, followed by a day or two of walking after the buggy owners finally caught them and they narrowly escaped, followed by a few hours on a hot air balloon (followed by an explosion), followed by a hitch-hike, followed by a bicycle ride, followed by a hike around two or three mountains, followed by a less-than-voluntary few hours' trip on wild boarback, followed by a fairly good pork roast, followed by a river ferryboat, followed by a swamp fanboat, followed by a hijacked motorboat, followed by a small rowboat, followed by a grimy plank of wood, followed by a piece of drifting ice they were clever enough to hop onto, followed by floating unconsious for about a day after the waterfall, followed by crawling, followed by limping, followed by walking steadily again, Jack and Takakura found themselves at the absolute boundaries of human civilization; Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Home at last.

The town seemed quiet, as Jack and Takakura escaped from the foliage only to find that they could have spent at least the last couple of hours on a straight path directly into the village. The houses were at lunch, the chilled breeze of a passing winter made its way into the massive blue ocean as rays of midday sun spilled down in their process of removing the last of the Valley's frosts. Jack stared from the top of the hill for a few moments, observing the unique scenery of this pleasant little vale.

"…This is it?" he asked, looking from left to right in hopes of finding a few more buildings. Takakura glanced at him.

"What do you mean 'this is it'?" he asked.

"I remember it being bigger," Jack claimed. "Like… town-ish. Didn't you say this was a town?"

"No, I said it was a 'community'," replied Takakura, beginning down the hill. Jack thought for a moment.

"…No, I'm pretty sure you said town."

They descended from the hill's crest to the very bottom, Jack glancing around occasionally for something to catch his memory.

"…Oh, right, I remember this farm," he stated, pointing to it as they passed by. "Thought it was mine for a second, but it's not nearly as ratty as the one I lived in…"

"Do you remember who lives there?"

"Huge woman. Olga or something."

Takakura quickly cupped Jack's mouth shut, looking around nervously.

"…Her name is Vesta," he said quietly. "And she can crush a soft head like yours in the palm of her hand, so I really don't think you should be talking like that.

"Anyway," he continued, releasing Jack and speaking in regular tone. "There are a couple of other farmers helping there now, too."

"I'm supposed to compare to a farm with three farmers working in it?" Jack inquired, tilting his head a little. "Seems kind of unfair."

"Eh, you're young and spry, you can manage," Takakura reassured. "Besides, Marlin isn't much for work ethic… He's Vesta's brother, but he's very sickly so he looks completely normal."

"Oh, really? Poor guy."

"There's also a farmhand named Celia. She's not related to Vesta, it seems. She's pretty, I think she's around your age."

"Is that so…"

"Do you want to go say hello?"

"Nah," replied Jack. "Let's get unpacked first."

"…I thought you lost everything in the fire."

"I brought a few creature comforts," Jack mentioned, holding out his arm proudly. "Wrist Sattelite TV. Everyone's got one."

"…I meant things that require unpacking," replied Takakura, though fairly interested by the little thing. Jack paused a moment.

"…Well, it is kind of making my arm itch," Jack mentioned.

"Then just put it in your pocket…"

"…You know, I think I'd rather see the house before talking to anybody. Get my ground, you know."

"What, you're changing your tune?" Tak raised an eyebrow, if it were noticeable.

"No, course not…" replied Jack. "I don't change my tune on a whim. I'm solid, I have-"

"Why, hello."

Jack screamed a little, eyes shooting forward at the source of the sound. Before him stood a young-looking woman, of long, dim blonde hair that fell in thick waves behind her. Bright maroon eyes bore into his even with her current friendly demeanor, and she wore an odd purple tunic with a black cape over her shoulders, clasped together by a fashionable little skull broach. She leaned slightly on a broom she held that went up to her shoulder.

"What's the matter?" she asked, her pleasant tone seeming just a bit forced. Jack swallowed once, an eye twitching.

"Nothing… I'm just a bit scared of people sneaking up on me while I'm on a bridge," he replied, adjusting his cap absently. And so they were, the young lady standing on the other edge of the creek, basically blocking their path. Jack had a slight sense of deja-vous, but ignored it.

"Well I was just standing here, I don't think that really counts as sneaking up on you," she replied, lifting her broom and placing it behind her back, beginning slowly toward them. There was an odd presence about her, Jack felt. "I… am the Witch Princess, the attractive and well-known diety of this town."

"…Riiight," Jack began, attempting to shift by her. She followed him move for move with ease. "…I'm pretty sure witches are supposed to be ugly, with green skin and big hats."

"I'm the Witch _Princess_," she corrected, holding her broom out now to further block his way. "I'm beyond a regular witch. Not only can I retain a youthful and vibrant state such as this for my entire immesurable life, but I have powers to rival even the…"

She noticed at that moment that her captive audience had made a sudden escape. Whipping around, she noticed the two quietly shifting away from the scene and making their way to the farm. Her eyes narrowed.

"I WAS TALKING," she shouted, suddenly shooting in front of the two in a powerful gust of wind. Jack blinked, stunned. She actually had some kind of power?

"Oh…" he muttered. "Well… Yeah, I heard all that about being the Princess with the youthful state and powers and that stuff, yeah. Anything else?"

"Yes," she replied, simmering down slightly to her usual tone. "Welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley. Have a nice life."

"Then that's it?" said Takakura, a hint of hopeful finality in his tone. The Witch Princess paused, for several moments, then looked at him.

"…You can see me?" she asked. "I was sure that only the people I choose can see me."

"…To be honest, we sort of just try to ignore you."

"Oh…" she muttered, scratching her chin a bit. "I suppose I'll need an actual spell for that. …Well, I'll deal with it later. Farewell!"

And she was gone, whisked off by her broom and lost to sight in a matter of seconds. Jack couldn't help but be stunned, for a moment at least.

"…All right, let's go," he finally said, shrugging off the entire situation with a single phrase. "So uh, what's to expect in this farmland? A decent house, a coop, a barn, some lush fields, a stable, a place for lumber, maybe a tool shed, and…?"

-

"**THIS IS IT?!**"

Jack stared in absolute conniption from the sight to meet his now-sore eyes as soon as he entered his property. Before him stood a meager three buildings. One of which he was soon informed was Takakura's house, to his right. The other two were bare-bones little wooden cottages of some sort, and as he approached he was horrified to discover that the one closest to him was actually supposed to be his house. The other was an empty stable, which for a moment he considered sleeping in instead of the little home.

"Well, what did you expect?" asked Takakura. "It's what we call a fixer-upper. You get what you pay for."

"…Yeah, nothing," muttered Jack in return. "Well, does the house have central heating?"

"You can build a bonfire in the middle if you want."

"I _will_ hurt you, you know."

"Meh…" Takakura started toward the house, opening the front door carefully. "Might as well see the inside."

Jack sighed, obliging by walking in and taking a look around. His new abode consisted of wooden everything, a huge television which he quickly noted had no cable or sattelite, a record player with no records, a calendar, a large bookshelf, and an actually quite surprisingly comfortable-looking bed. Jack pondered for several moments.

"…Well, it's total crap," he finally decided, sighing once. "Hasn't this entire farm been in my family for generations? Shouldn't there be more things like… _buildings_ here? It's like somebody robbed the place overnight without taking everything…"

"Funny you should mention that," Takakura noted, leaning himself against a wall for a moment. "…Are you aware of the family tradition?"

"Does it involve me being screwed over?"

"Yes."

"Then enlighten me."

"Well," began Tak, clearing his throat and standing up as straight as his posture could allow. "Long ago, the first true founder of this farm decided to sell all of his earnings throughout his career and leave his child with only the amount that he had started with at a certain time. This lead to the child doing similarly with his own son, and so it went on and on, so that each new farm head would start from humble beginnings, and know what it was like for the very originator."

"…Sounds like revenge, mostly."

"That too."

"The starters of this tradition sure were pricks."

"Agreed," muttered Takakura. He glanced at Jack. "Actually, fun fact; it's gotten worse over time. You're actually starting with much less than the original founder had."

"Is that so? Joy…" said Jack, rummaging around the area now before checking under the bed, pulling something out from it. "Huh… Turnip seeds…"

"They must have been left by your father for you," suggested Takakura. Jack rolled his eyes.

"I would say 'forgotten'," he corrected. "Hmm… You know what, it's been a long trip. I'm packing in while the first wave of culture shock sinks in."

"It's three in the after-"

"Night, Taka," said Jack, already crawling into the blankets of his bed. "Please get out of my shack before I fall asleep, or it'll be very strange, like a creepy uncle thing."

Takakura muttered a bit. "There's no way you can get to sleep now and not wake up until tomorrow morning."

"On the contrary, Lanky," said Jack, tucked in and eyes already shut. "I've got the best internal alarm clock this side of the pasture. I'll be up at 6:00am on the dot."

"Why 6:00?"

"…I don't know," he admitted. "I'll see if I can set it to 10:00, maybe."

"No, no, you want to be a farmer, you need to be up with the sun," said Takakura, nodding in agreement to himself. "6:00 is great, for every day actually."

"…I'll think about that," Jack replied with as much insincerity as possible. "In fact, I'll sleep on it. See you at 10:30."

"Ugh…"

----------

"Good… He made it. I knew I could get him here…

"And now, it may begin…"


	3. Twenty Steps Out The Freaking Door

(…Um… Eheh. Cough cough. This is definitely a slower start than my first piece of fiction, in more ways than one… Now, there are plot points coming, I'm just having a bit of trouble bridging the gaps. My poor creative surge has been suffering consistent weekends of work. I don't know how manager-man keeps getting away with posting me for both days of the weekend… But, with Spring Break I bring you this. Enjoy, read and review, if you find anything in this chapter worth reviewing. Sadness…)

After a long, restful night's sleep, Jack felt himself come in for a smooth landing back into the realm of consciousness. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the ambient light of the puny wooden house before stretching his arms and legs out, letting them relax sprawled out around them, and beginning to drift off again.

He was interrupted, however, by a tapping on his chest. Opening his eyes once more, he glanced down to see a little, cute elflike creature standing on the blanket, smiling at him.

He immediately punched it across the room.

"What the hell are you?!" he asked, sitting bolt upright in his bed now. The little person spend a few moments dizzily regaining himself on the other side of the house before getting up again, holding his head.

"Oooowww…" he muttered, shaking his head quickly before looking up at him, smiling brightly. "I'm a Harvest Sprite, and I'd just like to welcome you to Forget-Me-Not Valley, Jack!"

"…How do you know my name?" asked Jack, staring at the little thing oddly.

"The Witch Princess mentioned it," said the diminuitive elf, nodding a couple of times to this.

Jack flinched. "…And how does the Witch Princess know my name?"

"Pooooweeers," replied the Sprite, illustrating by wiggling his fingers in an evil way.

Jack sighed. "Great. What else does she know about me?"

"Something about this one time in grade seven where you ran screaming from the classroom because you were staring at a pretty girl and started to get-"

"Okay," Jack said quickly, cutting the Sprite off. "Enough about me. What's your name?"

"Misty," replied the Sprite, still smiling bright and happy. Jack blinked. 

"Hence the blue-"

"Yeah." He nodded.

Jack decided then to slide from the bed and get to his feet. "So… You just here to say hello?"

"Yep! Oh behalf of the Harvest Sprites, I would like to welcome you to Forget-Me-"

"You said that already," mentioned Jack. "But all right, thanks, see you, never come into my house like that again. You can go and do whatever you do."

"But this is what I do," replied Misty, trotting over to the record player and hopping onto it to be more level with Jack. "I'm a part of the Watering Team! It's been our job to help the farmers here water their plants for generations!"

"…How many generations?"

"Um… I think one or two," replied the Sprite, who was beginning to discover how fun it was to run on the spot and make the record player turn. "I know you don't have any plants right now, but if you do, please don't forget about us!"

"…Free labour? How could I forget?" Jack replied, suddenly a bit more positive about these little people than before. "All right, you've got it."

"Yay!" The Sprite jumped from the record player to the ground. "Then I'll be going, it's almost time for morning tea before afternoon tea!"

"…You know, too much of that might stunt your growth," began Jack, but the Sprite took no heed and vanished in a blue sparkle of light. Jack blinked.

"Next is gonna be flying monkies…"

Thinking the day's weirdness had been completed by then, Jack felt safe enough to pull on his shoes and step out the door, where he was immediately greeted by a bag full of heavy tools knocking him to the ground.

"Oww…" he muttered, glancing around for the culprit. He found Takakura looking back at him. "…What's the deal, man?"

"That is your Rucksack," said Takakura. "It's filled with everything you need to run a minimum-grade farm. Which is all right, 'cause you'll be able to upgrade anything that you'll need to once you get the money."

"Rf…" muttered Jack, hoisting the Rucksack up along with himself. "Hah, that's what you think… I've got my own labour force now."

"What do you mean, the Harvest Sprites?" When Jack nodded, Takakura chuckled.

"…What?" Jack asked threateningly.

"The Harvest Sprites aren't going to do all of your work," he said. "There isn't a Planting Team or a Buying Team or a Building Team. Heck, even with what they do, they're not exactly the most reliable."

"What do you mean?"

"They have a little bit of an… attention problem," Takakura muttered. "I suggest you get that thing on. It feels lighter once it's on your shoulders."

"Hey, I can keep them motivated into working for m- Oh, wow, it is lighter…" said Jack, moving his shoulders around. "Well, whatever, you'll see. It can only go uphill from here anyway. See ya, I'm gonna go meet the locals."

"Don't you want me to help introduce you?" Takakura asked, tilting his head in semi-confusion. Jack scoffed.

"What am I, four? I can introduce myself… myself," he said.

"Oh, well, just… I'd.. like something to do," Takakura mumbled, his head drooping sadly.

"Oh…" said Jack, pausing a moment. "…You can… You can spread the word, if you'd like. I'm sure you can spread a decent word."

"Oh, okay," said Tak, cheering up a bit. Glad to see that was enough to get him off his case, Jack waved him off, starting down the path by his lonesome and turning toward the main road of the town.

…Wow. Some road.

Glancing left and right first, Jack started to walk slowly, so as to not spoil the quality for himself, due to the fact that Forget-Me-Not Valley's main street appeared to be… fifty meters long. And what appeared to be the largest building and political epicentre of the town was an Inn with apparently no door. He decided to approach this building, curious to what it signified, perhaps in some modern-art referance to some deep, impressioning facet of existance that he didn't understand nor care about.

Someone tapped his shoulder. Thus, Jack turned around, to come face-to-face with a young woman about his age, dressed in green and brown dress fronted by some flax-ey plaid pattern. An orange bandanna sat on top of her head, perhaps to make her more visible in the forests where she would otherwise blend perfectly into and likely get shot by any hunter who noticed her move and had seen the movie Predator a few too many times.

"Hello," she greeted with the cheer that would make most men run in terror. "You must be the new boy living at the farm."

"No, I'm the new _man _running the farm," corrected Jack, glancing sideways in discontent.

"Oh, of course," the young woman replied. She smiled. "My name is Celia."

Jack looked back at her. "…Oh, right, the person I didn't want to talk to."

Something in Celia's demeanor darkened in a way that told Jack not to just walk off, as she lived on the farm next to his and probably had her share of pointy objects as well.

"I just wanted to welcome you to Forget-Me-Not Valley," she said cheerily.

"Mm-hmm."

"You don't seem excited…"

"It's just you're I think the third person to welcome me, so yeah," said Jack.

"…Oh, I see," Celia said, nodding and smiling to him. "So, Jack, would you like me to show you around?"

"No," he replied. Then he paused. "…Wait, you knew my name how?"

"Word gets around."

"Via Witch Princess?"

"Sometimes. Why?"

Jack sighed. "Forget it…" He was getting a little bored of this. Searching for an escape route, he accidentally made eye contace with another woman who had mysteriously appeared. This one looked very city-like, in that she was dressed like a 40's… nightshift-worker, so to speak.

"Hello!" she cheered happily. "My name's Muffy, and I'd just like to welcome…you… to…"

Jack had lost attention to her as quickly as he gained it. He was smickering into his hand as quietly but obbiously as he could manage.

"Wow… some name… I'm not even gonna go there, sorry," he said, starting to walk off.

"Wait!" he heard Celia cry. He sighed. It seemed he wasn't going to get out of introductions that easily.

-

Elsewhere, the recently-introduced Witch Princess was concocting a strange formula within her handy portable cauldron, somewhere near the small hut where Nina and Galen spent their old, lonesome days. She was humming merrily as she added the odd rat tails or ardvark tongues to the concoction, until the moment a certain little jingle popped into her head. Or right next to it.

"Ta-daa!" chimed an overzealous teal-haired diety who appeared in a burst of sparkles and a strum of harp music, both arms raised proudly into the air. The Witch Princess's eyelid twitched, but she otherwise paid no mind.

"Hello," she said, still mulling over her cauldron.

"Why, hello!" the woman replied, smiling radiantly. She glanced at her pot. "So, what are you doing today?"

"Just another demonic ritual," the Witch Princess replied.

"Oh! Okay," the Goddess said indifferently, shrugging.

"Mind getting that powdered cow tongue for me?"

"Sure!" replied the Goddess, stepping over to the stool full of ingredients, taking the plastic bag and handing it over to her.

"Thanks." As she poured it in, she glanced over to her. "So, just come here to say hi?"

"No no, just making sure we're still good for Blackjack on Tuesday," she replied. "You know how those other Harvest Goddesses can be when they're pulled out of their ponds for no reason."

"Oh, yes, I do," replied the Witch Princess, sighing. "It's like they don't have time to waste. They're immortal, it's not like they're going to turn to stone any second."

The Goddess shrugged. "What can you do. Anyway, see you later! Toodles!" And with that, she vanished in yet another sparkle. The Witch Princess sighed in the kind of mild frustration that implies foreshadowing, then continued with her work.

-

"And so I saved the kitty! Isn't that great?" said Celia, smiling rather proudly to herself. Jack, lying on the ground and nearly asleep, opened his eyes a bit to look up at her and Muffy.

"…Wow," he simply replied. If that was character deph around here, he didn't want to meet the shallow folk. Getting up to a sit, Jack looked around a bit. "Well, I've really got to be going, so-"

"Wait wait! I have something even better!" Muffy interrupted, casting Celia a challenging look. Jack sighed a bit, looking mournfully off into the distance he wasn't likely to reach anytime soon, when a flash of sudden red caught his attention.

Noticing Jack's attention lapse (oddly much more quickly than his unconsciousness a while back), Muffy and Celia looked at him, and were about to question what he was looking at until Jack suddenly threw his hand up, signaling the distant figure.

"Hey! Hey, is that who I think it is?" he said, walking quickly toward the figure and smiling more than he had in recent memory. The figure turned in his direction, having just come down from Jack's own farm, and tilted her head slightly with an air of some amusement.

"Nami! How's it been, cuz?" said Jack, punching her arm as soon as she was in range. Nami punched his shoulder back, crossing her arms after.

"I've been around," she said, glacing at the aforementioned 'around'. "I had heard you came back to your roots finally, so I thought I should say hello.

"…Getting yourself acquainted?" she asked, looking over his shoulder to the huffy-looking Celia and Muffy.

"Uhh, you could say that – please don't make me go back to them…" Jack muttered under his breath. Nami gave a 'ts' of amusement, shrugging with one shoulder.

"If you want to, I'll help you out of it," she said. "But that's a Favour Point."

"Fine, one Favour Point, just save my soul…" Jack mumbled.

"I'm a cousin, I should be condemning it and laughing at you."

"One Favour Point!"

"Just saying…" Nami said, walking around Jack and facing Celia and Muffy. "Hey, I'll give Jack the grand tour myself. Do you mind that at all?"

"Yes-"

"That's too bad," Nami said in a suddenly much darker tone, narrowing her eyes at the two. "I'm the traveller, I'm a neutral party, and there's no real part of this town that I like so it'll be up to Jack to decide his favorite spots. That sounds more fair than dragging him through every crop of a farm or every part of some flower bed."

"That's not nice…" said Muffy, crossing her arms,

"It was a joke," replied Nami.

"Your jokes aren't very funny."

"Shut up."

"Okay…"


End file.
